15 West 16th Street

New York, NY 10011

Phone: (212) 246-6080

Fax: (212) 292-1892

Email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

URL: http://www.yivoinstitute.org

Center for Jewish History, Publisher.

Machine-readable finding aid was created by Donna Gallers as MS Word document in July 2003. Electronic finding aid was converted to EAD 2002 by Stanislav Pejša in January 2004. Description is in English.

The collection consists of the general, personal and professional correspondence of Moses Kligsberg, manuscripts for published and unpublished works, project proposals and outlines, research materials, printed matter and other records relating to Moses Kligsberg's involvement with the Bund and with Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe, to his functions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and to his scholarly interests. Included are Moses Kligsberg's manuscripts on the subjects of Jewish sociology, psychology, youth, and political matters. The collection contains a great deal of YIVO administrative and publicity materials, among others editorial records of theYedies fun yivo (YIVO News) and YIVO radio programs; materials on the Bund; records of the United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution. Besides the personal documents and both personal and organizational correspondence, the collection also includes original musical compositions, acetate recordings, magnetic reels, and photographs.

Languages:

The collection is mostly in Yiddish andEnglish.Correspondence with family and some friends is in Polish. Some documents are also in French, German, Swedish,Russian, and Japanese.

Moses David Kligsberg (1901-1975) was born in Warsaw, Poland to a family of rabbinic lineage. His father, Icek Matys Kligsberg, was a full-time scholar and his mother, Gitla (née Rygal), managed a store. Moses Kligsberg attendedkheyder until the age of ten, at the same time studying secular subjects privately. He later attended a Polish state school, from which he graduated just before the First World War. He attended evening courses at the Warsaw Business School for one year, after which he enrolled in a Jewish vocational school. There Moses Kligsberg studied electrical engineering, graduating in 1920. His interest then switched to the humanities, and in 1922 he enrolled in the Philosophy Department at the Free University of Warsaw, which he attended for two years but never graduated.

In 1917 Moses Kligsberg joined the Yugnt Bund Tsukunft, the young people's organization of the Jewish Labor Bund. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Tsukunft and secretary of its Warsaw branch. From 1921 to 1923 he worked as a librarian at the Groser Bibliotek in Warsaw. Thereafter he taught natural science, mathematics and general studies to youth workers in night schools run by the unions. From 1930 until the outbreak of the Second World War, Moses Kligsberg was Secretary of the Gezelshaft tsu Farshpreytn Bildung tsvishn Yidishe Arbeter (Organization for Educating Jewish Workers), and ran their night school. At the same time he was involved in numerous cultural and educational projects for the Tsukunft.

Throughout this time, Moses Kligsberg was engaged in a systematic and intensive program of self-education. He had stopped attending university classes after two years, partly for financial reasons and partly because he preferred independent study. He studied mostly philosophy, sociology, and psychology.

In 1926 Moses Kligsberg became a regular contributor to the journal Yugnt veker (Young Worker) in Warsaw, for which he wrote various popular science articles on sociological, psychological, historical and economic themes for the next fifteen years. He also contributed to the Polish monthly journal Nasza valka (Our Struggle), mostly in the form of reviews of scholarly books and occasionally also longer articles. In 1938 Moses Kligsberg became the editor of the journal Naye kultur (New Culture), to which he was also a contributor. He also published articles in the Warsaw journals Undzer tsayt (Our Time) andForoys (Forward).

In 1938 Moses Kligsberg's monograph Yugnt psikhologye un sotsialistishe dertsiung (Youth Psychology and Socialist Education) was published by the Kultur Lige. Thus began Moses Kligsberg's specialization in 'yugnt forshung' (youth research). In 1939 he sent the manuscript of his unpublished article "Di psikhologye fun shpil un estetishn genus" to YIVO in Vilna, and was then invited by Max Weinreich to participate in the YIVO aspirant (YIVO research fellow). With the outbreak of the second World War Moses Kligsberg found refuge in as-yet unoccupied Vilna as a YIVO aspirant. There he began a project of analyzing the collection of youth autobiographies under the title "Perzenlekhe tsiln un gezelshaftlekhe idealn bay der yidisher yugnt in poyln". In 1940, when the Soviet army occupied Vilna, Moses Kligsberg sent his collected notes and materials to the newly-established YIVO in New York.

Moses Kligsberg was granted a special visa and came to New York via Kobe (Japan) in April, 1941. He joined the YIVO staff as Max Weinreich's assistant in charge of research projects. In that capacity, after the war Moses Kligsberg corresponded with East European Jewish refugees around the world, asking them to collect materials for YIVO again. As secretary of the contest committee, he organized and administered three YIVO essay contests: 1) Autobiographies of Immigrants (1942); 2) The Experience of Jewish soldiers in World War II (1946); and 3) Supplementary Contest among participants in the autobiographies contest (1953). He was the project manager for the Yiddish language publication of Herman Kruk's Vilna Ghetto diary and oversaw several other YIVO publication projects. He was also a consultant to the Max Weinreich Center for Advanced Jewish Studies.

For over thirty years Moses Kligsberg was in charge of all publicity work for YIVO. In 1950 he was appointed editor of the Yedies fun yivo (YIVO News), which position he retained until the end of his days. He wrote the Yiddish version of the Yedies, which was originally translated to English by Shlomo Noble, and later was translated and written by others.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, Moses Kligsberg was an active member of the I.L. Cahan Folklore Club at YIVO, and was on the editorial committee for their journal Yidisher folklor. From 1963 on, Kligsberg also coordinated, produced and wrote scripts for the YIVO radio program on WEVD broadcast station.

Though lacking in formal degrees, Moses Kligsberg had scholarly ambitions and considered himself a sociologist. It was his lifelong ambition to write a sociological analysis of Jewish youth in Poland based on the Vilna YIVO autobiographies which came out of the contest that took place before World War II. The book never came to be, but Kligsberg wrote and published numerous articles related to the autobiographies and/or Jewish youth inYIVO Bleter / The YIVO Annual, and other journals. Notably, his 100-page article "Di yidishe yugnt bavegung in poyln tsvishn beyde velt milkhomes" (The Jewish Youth Movement in Poland between the Two World Wars), appeared in Studies on Polish Jewry 1919-1939 in 1974.

Since his arrival in the United States, Moses Kligsberg was an active member of the American branch of the Jewish Labor Bund. He was secretary of the Foreign Delegation of the Tsukunft, and as such maintained correspondence with Bund and Tsukunft leaders around the world, many of whom were also his personal friends from Poland. Moses Kligsberg helped organize and coordinate Bund youth groups and activities in New York, including a branch of SKIF, the children's movement of the Bund. He was an editor, together with Alexander Erlich and Sholem Hertz, of Yugnt veker, the magazine published by the Bund in the United States. Moses Kligsberg was also a founder and driving spirit of Camp Hemshekh, the Catskills (New York) summer camp run by the Bund from 1959-1978.

Moses Kligsberg also played a central administrative role in the United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution (aka Katsetler Farband), a membership organization for Holocaust survivors in North America and Mexico.

Moses Kligsberg's personal life was marked by sorrow. In 1938 he married Mala Bergman in Warsaw. They had one daughter, Guta, born in 1939. When Moses Kligsberg went to Vilna later that year, he was forced to leave his family behind. He corresponded with his wife Mala until 1942. Moses Kligsberg made several attempts through U.S. and Canadian authorities to bring his wife and daughter to the United States, but was continually denied. They remained in the Warsaw Ghetto and eventually perished in the Holocaust.

Moses Kligsberg never remarried. He settled in the Bronx in the Amalgamated Houses, the home to a large community of Polish Bundists, Holocaust survivors and refugees. He maintained close contact and correspondence with many friends and acquaintances in New York and around the world, and was dedicated to helping war refugees. He was much beloved by young people and maintained devoted friendships with many of his friends' children, students at YIVO, and campers and counselors from Camp Hemshekh.

Unknown to most people during his lifetime was Moses Kligsberg's dedicated pursuit of his musical passion. From 1943 to 1954 he was enrolled at Teachers College of Columbia University, where he studied music history, composition and orchestration, as well as violin and piano. He also took private music lessons. For several summers he participated in the summer Composers' Conference at Bennington College, Vermont, where he presented and made recordings of several original compositions. Like many 'Tsukunftists' of his generation, Kligsberg loved the outdoors and was an avid mountain climber, often taking hiking trips through the northeast United States and Europe.

Moses Kligsberg died in New York on June 25, 1975 after a prolonged illness.

The Papers of Moses Kligsberg (1937-1974) are arranged in fifteen series that include correspondence with individuals and organizations, personal papers, his writings, projects, and research materials, as well as YIVO correspondence, its administrative materials, programs and projects, and publicity materials. Records of the Jewish Labor Bund and the United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution are also part of the collection.

The collection reflects the diverse projects that Moses Kligsberg worked on at YIVO, in his personal research and writings, and within the Bundist and survivors' community after World War II. Approximately one third of the collection is made up of materials related to these projects. There is a wealth of material (manuscripts, articles and writings by others, research notes) related to Moses Kligsberg's major scholarly interests, among which Jewish youth movements, Jewish immigrants, the Bund and the Jewish labor movement, and the use of autobiographical materials in sociological research were the most prominent ones.

There are manuscripts (some with corrections and edits) for virtually all of Moses Kligsberg's important articles, including "Child and Adolescent Behavior Under Stress" and "Di yidishe yugnt bavegung tsvishn beyde velt milkhomes" [The Jewish youth movement between the Two World Wars]. There are also several copies of the research report and proposal that Moses Kligsberg worked on as a YIVOAspirant (research fellow) in Vilna in 1940, for which he was invited to New York to continue to work. Many of the manuscripts in the collection are based on analyses of the YIVO autobiographies contests, and there are various notes, some correspondence and a few primary source materials about the contests. Some of Moses Kligsberg's correspondence with individuals also pertains to his personal research and writing projects.

Also of interest are manuscripts for two books projects on which Moses Kligsberg worked in an editorial capacity: Meyer Kushner's memoir about the Cloakmakers' union, and Ber I. Rozen's posthumously published collection of portraits of the Polish Jewish community in the interwar years.

Included in the collection are the papers of the United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution (Series XII), a membership organization for Holocaust survivors for which Moses Kligsberg played a significant administrative role. The papers include over 80 membership questionnaires that include information on time spent in concentration and labor camps and the fate of respondents' families. Also of interest is correspondence from the Axis Victims League and the organization's by-laws.

Moses Kligsberg's active involvement in and deep convictions about the Jewish Labor Bund are in evidence throughout the collection, in particular in Series XII, Series IV, and in the personal correspondence. The bulk of these materials are in Series XII. As secretary of the Foreign Delegation of the Yugnt Bund 'Tsukunft', Moses Kligsberg's papers include correspondence with Bundist leaders across the United States and throughout the world, largely about reestablishing post-war Bund organizations and building an active Jewish labor movement. There is a substantial correspondence in Series XII from three New York leaders: Emanuel Nowogrodsky, Shlomo Mendelson, and Emanuel Patt. Also of interest are the texts of various resolutions, speeches and articles on behalf of the Bund, on topics including Palestine, Zionism, and the future of socialism. There are ample materials relating to activities of the Bundist youth groups Tsukunft and SKIF in New York and elsewhere, including Subseries 4, which relates to the summer camp Hemshekh. Series IV includes writings by Moses Kligsberg about the Bund and its members and activities before World War II.

A more personal side of the post-war Bund can be seen in Moses Kligsberg's correspondence (Series I) with friends and colleagues from the Polish Bund and especially from the Tsukunft – mostly from Warsaw, and now scattered throughout the world, including Shanghai, France, Canada, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Australia, and Israel. Much of this correspondence is personal in nature, and deals with emigration, establishing new homes and families, and assisting refugees (often the writers themselves). However, there is also frequent discussion of socialist ideals, the future of the Bund, and reminiscences of activities past. The correspondence is notable for the blending of personal and "movement" themes, and paints a picture of an active, committed network of friends and activists rebuilding after the war. The bulk of the correspondence consists of correspondence to and from Moses Kligsberg himself. However, where letters from principle correspondents of Moses Kligsberg were addressed to other YIVO staff members, these were also included in this series and filed together with other correspondence from that individual.

Approximately half of the collection consists of materials related to Moses Kligsberg's thirty-five year association with YIVO, and includes administrative, publicity, and project materials. Because Moses Kligsberg was involved with so many diverse projects and administrative tasks at YIVO, the collection reflects the broad range of YIVO activities during the 1940s-1970s - from public programs, scholarly conferences, and educational courses to research projects and publications, archival and library collecting, and a radio program. The correspondence with individuals also reflects YIVO's active role in the Jewish community, in particular with war refugees and immigrants to the United States.

The administrative materials include internal correspondence and memos, correspondence with individuals and organizations, notes and reports from Executive Committee and Board of Directors meetings. There is correspondence and reports of activities from several YIVO outposts, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Melbourne, Australia.

The rest of the YIVO materials relate to programs and projects of the organization. There are programs, publicity materials and abstracts from annual academic conferences, colloquia, and exhibitions, as well as syllabi and course listings for educational programs. Of interest are the materials relating to the 1948 UCLA Summer Session in which Max Weinreich taught two courses, and out of which the I.L. Cahan Folklore Club was born. There are also manuscripts and other materials relating to YIVO publications, notably an early draft of Pinchas Schwartz's introduction to the Kruk diary. Although Moses Kligsberg did work on the Yiddish publication of the Kruk diary, no other materials from the diary were found in the collection. There is a small amount of material about various YIVO essay contests, including instructions and announcements for the 1942 autobiographies contest. Also of interest are the materials relating to YIVO's hour-long weekly radio program on the WEVD broadcast station. Included are scripts, press releases, and correspondence about the program.

The collection includes notes, memos, correspondence, articles, and other materials used by Moses Kligsberg in editing the quarterly newsletterYedies fun yivo (YIVO News), newspaper clippings, and photographs.

Personal names are spelled as they appear in materials found in the collection, or have been romanized from Yiddish with transliteration according to the YIVO standard. The names of the institutions were verified in the Library of Congress Authorities where applicable.

Chana Mlotek and Fruma Mohrer proofread, verified, and corrected the final version of this finding aid.

Document Types

The series is mostly in Yiddish. Some documents are inPolish and English.

3.1 linear feet

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by the names of individual correspondents.

Scope and Content:

This series contains correspondence with writers, scholars, labor activists, community leaders, YIVO staff members and associates, refugees and Holocaust survivors, friends, and family members. The correspondence is in its character both personal and professional. The bulk of the materials are addressed to Moses Kligsberg, but there are also a number of letters addressed to YIVO staff members (generally Max Weinreich or Mark Uveeler), which are included here where there is already significant correspondence from that person to Moses Kligsberg. There are also numerous carbon copies of letters from Kligsberg, filed under addressee name.

Principle personal correspondents include many of Moses Kligsberg's friends from Warsaw, mostly Bundists and members of Yugnt Bund 'Tsukunft', but living elsewhere after World War II. Much of this correspondence deals with refugees and survivors reestablishing their lives after the war, emigration, and locating and assisting others. There is also much discussion among these correspondents of Bundist and socialist ideals, world politics, and the future of the Bundist movement, in particular letters by Lucjan Blit, Borukh Gelbron, Albert Litewka, Yosl Mlotek, Emanuel Patt. The materials represent a vivid picture of the Polish Bund immediately after (and to some extent, during) World War II, in particular the youth movements of the Bund. Notable are the intense, committed relationships and friendships between 'Tsukunftists' and their drive to rebuild the movement throughout the world. There are also a substantial number of letters from individuals not named above regarding wartime experiences, emigration, and resettlement.

The series also includes letters from Moses Kligsberg's wife Mala Kligsberg, dating from 1941-1942 and sent from the Warsaw Ghetto, letters from Moses Kligsberg's nephew Bernard Kligsberg, sent from Polish and German DP camps after the war. These letters are written in Polish. There is also correspondence from Abraham Griner and Berl Zakon, two cousins of Moses Kligsberg living in Israel.

Professional correspondents include: Scholar and historian Joshua Fishman, Yiddish linguist Mordkhe Schaechter; N.B. Minkoff, editor of the magazineTsukunft, Melekh Ravitch, director of the Jewish Public Library of Montreal, Arkadius Kahan, scholar and Bundist; and Gordon Allport, psychologist and scholar. The collection includes correspondence with several YIVO zamlers (collectors), including Abraham Ain, Mordecai Bernstein, and David Botwinik. There is also substantial correspondence with individuals whom Moses Kligsberg advised on their autobiographical manuscripts for publication, including Abraham Biales, Simon Solomon, and Abraham Unger.

The greatest amount of correspondence dates from 1946-1952, the years immediately following the end of World War II. There is a lesser amount of correspondence (though significant in content) from 1941-1945. The later 1950s and 1960s are also well represented, with fewer materials from the 1970s. About half of the letters come from within North America. About one third come from Europe, and the rest from South America, Australia, and Asia (Shanghai, China ).

Letters to Emanuel Patt from members of the Yugnt Bund delegation. Packet of letters sent to Emanuel Patt by Moses Kligsberg includes letters from members of Yugn Bund 'Tsukunft' in Kobe, Japan and Shanghai, China.

The series is mostly in Yiddish and English, some letters are in French, German, and Swedish.

0.5 linear feet

Arrangement:

Arrangement is alphabetical by the institution name.

Scope and Content:

Correspondence with organizations, associations, publications, schools and universities, libraries, relief agencies, labor and socialist organizations, Jewish organizations is held in Series II. The materials in this series fall mainly into three broad categories: 1) materials related to YIVO, 2) materials related to the Bund, the labor movement, and Jewish relief efforts, 3) materials related to Moses Kligsberg's research and writing projects. Notable are eight folders of materials from the Jewish Labor Committee, including correspondence from Jacob Pat, Executive Secretary and Lazar Epstein, Director of the Khaver Hilf Fund about aid to individual refugees, especially Bundists. The series also includes letters from the Central Yiddish Culture Organization (CYCO), in which Moses Kligsberg served on the Youth Commission. Also significant are eight folders of materials from the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring in New York, Toronto, Paris and other cities in the U.S. including correspondence, announcements of events, and branch activities. There is also a folder of letters from YIVO to Moses Kligsberg regarding employee benefits, salaries, and Moses Kligsberg's participation on various panels. The bulk of the correspondence dates from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s.

The series is mostly in Yiddish, English,Polish, Russian, and Japanese.

0.8 linear feet

Arrangement:

Arranged by topic.

Scope and Content:

Series III comprises material that belonged to Moses Kligsberg. It consists of personal documents, including his passports and correspondence with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, some of his financial and medical records, several membership cards, and his address books.Subseries 6 consists of materials from the Patt family. Emanuel Patt and his wife, Brucha Patt were close friends of Moses Kligsberg from Warsaw and settled in New York later.

Material testifying to the academic efforts of Moses Kligsberg falls also into this series. Subseries 5 includes notes from classes, papers, and other assignments from his year as a YIVO Aspirant (research fellow) in New York.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries includes Polish passports and other identity documents of Moses Kligsberg, as well as correspondence with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding Moses Kligsberg's status in the United States. It also includes affidavits and recommendations for others to come to the United States, and inquiries about the whereabouts of Moses Kligsberg family members and friends.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by the folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries includes documents and correspondence about Moses Kligsberg's finances, housing, and medical issues, miscellaneous receipts for donations and care package shipments, membership cards and invitations to organizational events. It also includes a collection of more than ten address books.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 3 includes sheet music of original compositions by Moses Kligsberg, donated by Chana Mlotek, as well as correspondence and other materials relating to Moses Kligsberg's many years of studying music at Columbia Teachers College, Bennington Composers' Conference, and elsewhere. Of interest is a letter from Moses Kligsberg to Maestro Leopold Stokowski requesting permission to send his score for Stokowski's review. The sheet music is mostly undated but likely from the late 1940s - middle 1950s, the years when Moses Kligsberg was most actively studying music.

A. Sheet music - Original compositions by Moses Kligsberg

Box

Folder

Title

Date

11

316

"Children's Tale"

1948

11

317

"Duet for Viola and Clarinet"

1953

11

318

"Little Piano Suite"

undated

11

319

"A marsh"

undated

11

320

"A marsh far Zalmelen, fun Moyshen" (A march for Zalmen, from Moyshe)

undated

11

321

"Prelude (for Chana)"

undated

11

322

Untitled

undated

11

323

Untitled: Allegro Scherzo and Allegro Moderato

undated

B. Correspondence

Box

Folder

Title

Date

11

324

Bennington Composers' Conference (Bennington, Vt.)

1953-54.

11

325

Columbia University. Teachers College

1943-1950

11

326

Columbia University. Teachers College - Bursar's receipts and receipts for other payments

Arrangement:

Alphabetical by the folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries consists of materials from the Patt family, close friends of Moses Kligsberg from Warsaw who settled in New York. Emanuel Patt was a family physician, writer, educator, Bundist and community leader. Emanuel Patt was an innovator in creating secular Yiddish texts and observances for important Jewish holidays and rituals. He and his wife, Brucha Patt, hosted an annual secular Yiddish Passover seder in their home in the Amalgamated neighborhood of the Bronx, N.Y. His son, Avram Patt, had a secular Yiddish bar mitzvah.

Arrangement:

Arrangement is alphabetical by title.

Scope and Content:

Manuscripts, typed copies and drafts of articles, papers, and other writings by Moses Kligsberg. Major themes represented in Kligsberg's writings include: Jewish youth and youth movements in Poland before World War II, Jewish youth in America, Jewish immigrants in America, the Bund and the Jewish labor movement, the use of autobiographical materials in sociological studies, Yiddish culture and American Jewry, the YIVO autobiographies contests. The researchers can find numerous early drafts of articles written by Moses Kligsberg. Some versions have his editorial remarks.

The materials and notes for Moses Kligsberg's article on Chaim S. Kazdan "Ch. S. Kazdan: a mentsh, a feldz – Tsu zayne 90 yor" [Ch. S. Kazdan: A Man, a Rock – In honor of his 90th Birthday] can be also found in Series V, Subseries 2: Materials for article on Chaim Kazdan.

The collection also includes drafts of some of Kligsberg's other published articles, many of which are based on Kligsberg's extensive analyses of materials from the YIVO American autobiographies contests. There are also various articles and manuscripts relating to the history and personalities in the Jewish Labor Bund during the interwar period, including several personal profiles of people whom Kligsberg knew well, among them Emanuel Patt, Gabriel Fryshdorf, Leah Jacubowich.

Of interest is a lengthy, untitled manuscript in Kligsberg's hand, written in first person. It contains 33 titled sections and seems to be a memoir about a Bundist activist in Warsaw during the 1930s. There are sections about strikes and protests, underground activities, getting arrested, individuals active in Warsaw during that period, and personal reminiscences about life in the city. It is unclear if this is Kligsberg's own memoir or copied from someone else.

The bulk of the materials in this series are in Yiddish, some of which also include English translations.

"Tsum ershtn yortsayt fun Shloyme Mendelson: A por verter tsu der kharakteristik fun zayn perzenlekhkayt" [On the first anniversary of the death of Shlomo Mendelson: A few words about the characteristics of his personality]

undated

Typed, 4 pp.

13

387

"Di tsvey dimensyes fun virklekhkayt in traditsyoneln veltbanem fun mizrekh eyropeyishn yidntum" [The two dimensions of reality in the traditional world outlook of Eastern European Jewry]

The series is mostly inYiddish, some documents are inPolish and English.

1.2 linear feet

Arrangement:

Arranged by topic

Scope and Content:

Project proposals, grant applications, outlines, research plans, progress reports and other related materials for Moses Kligsberg's personal and YIVO projects. Many of the materials relate to Moses Kligsberg'syugnt forshung (research on youth). Of note are drafts and final versions of a grant proposal for Moses Kligsberg's article "Childhood and Adolescent Behavior Under Stress", based on materials from the YIVO autobiographies contests and published as a pamphlet by YIVO in 1965. Many of the proposals and outlines are for projects which later became published works by Moses Kligsberg.

The series contains materials Moses Kligsberg used for his article on Chaim Kazdan. Separate subseries hold materials for two published memoirs; one byMeyer Kushner and the other by Ber I. Rozen. Moses Kligsberg appears to have worked on them in an editorial capacity. The Kushner materials consist of manuscripts – some with corrections – and loose pages. The Rozen materials consist of typed and handwritten manuscripts, including a memoir about life in Shanghai.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by the folder title.

Scope and Content:

Project proposals, grant applications, outlines, research plans, progress reports and other related materials for Moses Kligsberg's personal and YIVO projects. Many of the materials relate to Moses Kligsberg'syugnt forshung (research on youth). Of note are drafts and final versions of a grant proposal for Moses Kligsberg's article "Childhood and Adolescent Behavior Under Stress", based on materials from the YIVO autobiographies contests and published as a pamphlet by YIVO in 1965. Many of the proposals and outlines are for projects which later became published works by Moses Kligsberg.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

16

418

Autobiographies proposal, Vilna

1940

Copies of 4 letters from Moses Kligsberg to Max Weinreich about Moses Kligsberg's planned research project about the YIVO autobiographies

Letter to YIVO and proposal for book expanding on Moses Kligsberg's work as an Aspirant (research fellow) in Vilna, based on the Vilna autobiographies contest. Typed, 5 pp., with handwritten manuscripts of original letter and proposal, and Moses Kligsberg's biographical information. 3 pp.

Published in Studies on Polish Jewry, 1919-1939, YIVO, 1974, pp. 137-228 - Contract and correspondence for its earlier version "Jewish Youth Organizations and their Participation in the Jewish Struggle for Existence"

Scope and Content:

Typed and manuscript sections of book Zikhroynes fun mayn lebn [Memories of My Life] by Meyer Kushner, about Local 9 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Cloakmakers' Union. This manuscript was published by ILGWU asLebn un kamf fun a klokmakher [The Life and Struggles of a Cloak Maker] in 1960. Moses Kligsberg appears to have been an editor of the book, since many of the manuscripts sections have corrections in his hand.

Scope and Content:

Moses Kligsberg seems to have been involved in getting a book of Ber I. Rozen's writings published posthumously, Portretn. There are several letters from Moses Kligsberg to an Argentine publisher about this subject. Another notable document is a 1941 copy of In veg, a Yiddish journal published by Jewish refugees in Shanghai, including Ber I. Rozen, Yosl Mlotek.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

18

463

Portretn [Portraits] - Typed manuscripts

1955

Included are clippings and letter from Moses Kligsberg to Argentine publisher Mark Turkov about Rozen's book

Arrangement:

Arranged by topic.

Scope and Content:

Unsorted research materials, probably used by Kligsberg for his own writings and research projects as well as for YIVO-related projects. This series consists of photocopies and excerpts from articles, charts and graphs, handwritten notes, typed or handwritten outlines, andnotes on index cards or in notebooks. The materials are largely unsorted. Includes materials about Jewish youth, Polish Jews, Polish nationalism and economic history, the labor movement, using autobiographical sources in research, and diverse other topics. Also included are variousbibliographic lists on a broad range of topics.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically by year.

Scope and Content:

This series includes correspondence to and from Moses Kligsberg, Max Weinreich, Shlomo Noble, Mark Uveeler, Leibush Lehrer, Rivka Tcherikower, Mendl Elkin, Dina Abramowicz, and other YIVO staff members about YIVO business. Topics include donations of materials to YIVO, books published or acquired by YIVO, the situation of refugees in Europe, and various YIVO projects and administrative affairs. The 1946 folder includes several letters to Max Weinreich from refugees still in Europe.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

25

529

YIVO Correspondence

1942

25

530

YIVO Correspondence

1943

25

531

YIVO Correspondence

1944

Includes items about the Museum of the Homes of the Past

25

532

YIVO Correspondence

1945

25

533

YIVO Correspondence

1946

Includes several long letters to Max Weinreich from refugees still in Europe

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Series VIII contains administrative records of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research offices. It includes internal memoranda, circulars, press releases, but also minutes and annual reports of the various committees. Documents relating to the administrative routine of YIVO, donations to botharchives and library can also be found here. Besides documenting the activities of the New York headquarters it also contains materials fromYIVO branches abroad.

Correspondence of the leading figures of the YIVO offices and YIVO staff members about YIVO business is also part of this series.

Arrangement:

Scope and Content:

Subseries 1 consists of internal memoranda, notes and correspondence between YIVO staff members about YIVO business, projects and activities. Principal staff members represented herein include Max Weinreich, Mark Uveeler, Leybush Lehrer, Mendl Elkin, Dina Abramowicz, Ezekiel Lifschitz, Shmuel Lapin, and Moses Kligsberg. Also included are form letters to YIVO members about events and projects.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

27

563

Memoranda and Correspondence

1941

27

564

Memoranda and Correspondence

1942

27

565

Memoranda and Correspondence

1944

27

566

Memoranda and Correspondence

1946

27

567

Memoranda and Correspondence

1947

Includes packet of letters written to Moses Kligsberg by YIVO staff members during his trip to Europe. Letters from Mark Uveeler, Miriam Zalcman, Raymond Gabiner, Henye Berkovich, Chana Mlotek. Sheet music and lyrics for Rivka Tcherikower are also included

Scope and Content:

Subseries 2 consists of administrative materials, many of which relate to the activities and functions of the YIVO Board of Directors (Direktorn rat) and the Executive Committee (Farvaltung). Included are meeting, commission and budget reports, lists and outlines, and an annual report (1941), as well as library and archives reports and lists of important or new holdings. There is a 1946 list of YIVO organizations around the world, with contact names. Of note is a folder of materials related to the death of Research Director Max Weinreich in 1969, including press releases and obituary articles by Shlomo Noble, Lucy Dawidowicz, and Roman Jakobson.

A) General

Box

Folder

Title

Date

27

590

Ab. Cahan Fund Materials

1964

27

591

YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science

undated

Review of Volume 8 of theYIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science by Abraham Burstein

27

592

Annual Report - Printed brochure

1941

8 pp.

27

593

Banquets

undated, 1969-1970

Invitations, seating list, opening remarks; also a press release for banquet in Boston

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 3 includes correspondence, clippings, brochures, programs, and flyers from YIVO offices and organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Cities represented are Chicago, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Melbourne, and Miami.

Some materials relate to YIVO publication activities, administration ofYIVO autobiographies essay contests. The actual autobiographies can be found in the YIVO collection Autobiographies, American - Jewish (RG 102). The series also contains several projects andgrant proposals, including collaboration of YIVO and Yad Vashem on cataloging documents pertaining to the Holocaust and Eastern European Jewry in 1955-1956. The scripts, press releases, and correspondence and other materials relating to YIVO's hour-long weekly radio program on the WEVD broadcast station can also be of interest to the researchers.

Restrictions:

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically by year.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 1 consists of programs, correspondence, and publicity materials from YIVO's annual scholarly conferences. Also included are a number of abstracts for papers given at various conferences, and texts for a few speeches. Notable are the speeches and introductory remarks for the 40th anniversary conference in 1966.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 2 consists of materials related to various YIVO colloquia, topical conferences, and exhibitions between 1958 and 1974. Included are programs, publicity materials, and abstracts. Of particular interest are the materials from the 1967 "Colloquium of the German-imposed Jewish ‘Representations' (Judenrat) Before and During WWII". These include copies of seven papers given at the conference. Also notable are materials from the Conference on Yiddish Studies and the Research Conference on Jewish Participation in Movements Devoted to the Cause of Social Progress that took place in 1958, 1964 respectively.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

31

642

American Historical Association Meeting - Program of YIVO session

1972

31

643

Colloquium on the German-Imposed Jewish "Representations" (Judenrat) before and during WWII - Papers and Program

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 3 consists of course catalogs, course descriptions, syllabi, flyers, and correspondence related to YIVO's educational programs. There are materials from the Max Weinreich Center for Advanced Jewish Studies and the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program at Columbia University, as well as other courses. Of note are materials from the 1948 UCLA Summer Session, at which Max Weinreich taught two courses – on Yiddish linguistics and Jewish popular & folk literature. YIVO created 12 scholarships for graduate students to attend the program, and among these were Joshua Fishman, Chana Mlotek (neé Eleanor Gordon), Yosl Mlotek, Bina Weinreich (neé Beatrice Silverman), Uriel Weinreich, and Gabriel Weinreich. The materials include reading lists, course outlines and administrative items. There are also songsheets, correspondence, announcements and memos from YIVO's I.L. Cahan Folklore Club, which was formed by graduates of the UCLA Summer Session and which edited and published the journalYidisher folklor (Jewish Folklore).

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 4 consists of announcements and instructions for YIVO essay contests, including the 1942 American autobiographies contest, as well as for the "Tsugob" (Supplemental) autobiographies contest in 1953. There are announcements for annual essay contests for graduate students, and there is also a set of instructions for a contest about life under the Nazis.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 5 consists of manuscripts, proofs and other materials for various YIVO publications, including autobiographies by Solomon Simon and Abraham Unger, the journal Yidisher folklor (Jewish Folklore), and Studies on Polish Jewry. It also includes an early manuscript of Pinchas Schwartz's biographical introduction to Herman Kruk's diary (Yiddish version).

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Folders with unsorted materials have been kept together in the original arrangement in which they were found.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 6 consists of proposals, outlines, reports, correspondence, notes, publicity and other items relating to YIVO-sponsored projects – research, archival, library, publishing, oral history projects and contests. Highlights include materials for the Yad Vashem Project, a cooperative project between YIVO and Yad Vashem to establish a bibliographic catalog for Holocaust-related literature and documents. Other items of note include various questionnaire projects (e.g. for Jewish immigrants to America after 1945, for Jewish organizations giving aid to Holocaust survivors, for Jewish immigrants to Israel) and materials about the Muzey fun der Alter Heym [Museum of the Homes of the Past].

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically by year.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 8 consists of materials from YIVO's radio program on station WEVD in New York City. Included are program scripts, press releases, program listings, correspondence, and newspaper clippings about the program.

Arrangement:

The material relating to the Yedies fun yivo (YIVO News) is arranged generally by year, except for items which were found in folders labeled according to issue number; these have been kept together and arranged by issue number, therefore there is some content overlap between the materials arranged chronologically and by issue. Newspaper clippings are arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content:

Notes, outlines, memoranda from YIVO staff, correspondence, articles, and other materials for the Yedies fun yivo (YIVO News), edited by Moses Kligsberg.Other publicity materials in the series include numerous press releases for YIVO events, publications, exhibitions, and educational programs, as well as correspondence with press and press contact lists. There are also some brochure and fund-raising items. Notable are materials for a 1959 brochure about YIVO together with the finished brochure), including a copy of a 1939 YIVO brochure published in Vilna.

Thenewspaper clippings found in this series cover YIVO activities both in Yiddish and English-language press.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by subseries title.

Scope and Content:

Moses Kligsberg was Secretary of the Oyslandisher Delegatsye fun Yugnt Bund Tsukunft in Poyln (Foreign Delegation of the YouthYouth Bund-Bund 'Tsukunft' in Poland), headquartered in New York. The series includes correspondence, meeting notes, resolutions, speeches, announcements, publications and reports relating to the activities of the Jewish Labor Bund in North, Central and South America, Europe, Israel and Australia after World War II, particularly in the immediate post-war period.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 1 consists mainly of correspondence from leaders of Bundist organizations outside the United States about Bund activities and community development. Includes correspondence from Melbourne, Montreal, Toronto, Paris, and Tel Aviv. Also of note are materials from the First World Conference of the Bund which Moses Kligsberg attended in Brussels, 1947, including his notes, conference agenda, and a typed report by P. Lemansky about the future of the Bund.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 2 consists of materials relating to the activities of the New York chapter of the Bund, which became after the war the central organizing body of the Bund. Correspondence to members, internal correspondence, meeting notes, flyers. Of interest is correspondence from three Bundist leaders in New York: Emanuel Nowogrodsky, Secretary of the American Representation of the Bund in Poland, and later, Secretary of the World Coordinating Committee of Bundist Organizations; Shloyme Mendelson, member of the Coordinating Committee; and Emanuel Patt, member of the Coordinating Committee and one of the leaders of the Foreign Delegation of the Tsukunft.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

44

864

5th World Conference of the Bund (New York, N.Y.)

1972

Guest list

Table chart

Conference agenda

44

865

Archives of the Jewish Labor Movement - Correspondence to members

1971

44

866

Bund Club in New York - Correspondence

1942

44

867

Bund Organization in New York - Letters to members, flyers and announcements

1947-1973

44

868

Committee on Youth - Children's Bulletin and correspondence

1961

44

869

Coordinating Committee of the Bund's and Affiliated Jewish Socialist Organizations in Various Countries - Correspondence to members

Arrangement:

Scope and Content:

Subseries 3 consists of the texts of various resolutions, speeches and articles given or written on behalf of the Bund. Many of these deal with issues facing the Bund after World War II, including the Bund's definition of socialism, the future of the organization, the situation of Jews throughout the world, and the Bund's stance on Zionism. There is a text about Zionism written by Moses Kligsberg for the General Conference of the Bund in 1948. Also of interest is a 1943 speech given by Lucjan Blit, Bundist leader in Britain, at the Conference of Representatives of Socialist Parties in London. Dated materials are from 1943-1948, and undated materials seem to be generally from this period as well.

A) Articles, Resolutions, Statements

Box

Folder

Title

Date

44

878

Blit, Lucjan - Speech delivered at Conference of Representatives of Socialist Parties in London

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 4 includes applications, letters to parents, camper questionnaires, brochures, flyers, publicity materials, correspondence, staff contracts and meeting notes relating to Camp Hemshekh, the Bund-run summer camp operated in upstate New York from 1959-1978. Also includes songsheets, Yiddish language materials, programs from camp shows and events, and a copy of the camp newspaper. There is also a folder of correspondence between Moses Kligsberg and various campers and counselors.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

45

894

Brochures

undated

45

895

Camp Material

1959

Applications, letters, camper questionnaires

45

896

Camp Material

undated, 1960-1965

45

897

Camp Material

1960

45

898

Camp Material

1961

45

899

Camp Material

1962

45

900

Camp Material

1963

45

901

Camp Material

1966

45

902

Camp Material

1967

45

903

Camp Material

1968

45

904

Camp Material

1969

45

905

Camp Material

1970

45

906

Camp Material

1971

45

907

Camp Material

1972

45

908

Camp Material

1973

45

909

Camp Material

1974

45

910

Camp materials

undated

Included are the Program Committee notes, publicity materials, planning materials, and seasonal reports

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 5 consists of materials relating to the SKIF (Sotsyalistisher Kinder Farband), the children's organization of the Bund. Items include correspondence, cards, flyers, summer camp materials, and address lists of members. Most of the materials are from New York, with a few each from Australia, France, Israel and Norway.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

46

922

Australia (Melbourne)

1950, 1955-1956

46

923

France (Paris)

1946-1960

46

924

Israel

1958

46

925

Norway (Oslo)

1955

46

926

Jewish Socialist Youth Club in New York - Correspondence and membership lists

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries 6 includes correspondence, announcements, notes and reports of post-war activities of the Yugnt Bund 'Tsukunft' (Youth Bund 'Tsukunft'), the young people's organization of the Bund. Much of the material is generated by the New York Executive Office. There are also materials (mostly correspondence) from Tsukunft organizations outside the United States, including Argentina, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Mexico, Poland and Uruguay. Most of the correspondence deals with local or international activities, goals, and progress reports of the Tsukunft.

A) New York Oysfir Byuro (Executive Office)

Box

Folder

Title

Date

46

935

Bulletin

1947

46

936

Correspondence

1942-1950

46

937

Drafts of letters

undated

46

938

Letters and notices to members

1942-1948

46

939

Meeting notes

undated

46

940

Statements and announcements

undated

B) International Contacts

Box

Folder

Title

Date

46

941

Argentina (Buenos Aires) - Correspondence from Moyshe Fridman

1948

46

942

Australia (Melbourne) - Correspondence

1949

46

943

Belgium

1946-1949

Correspondence between Henye Rosenfarb, Shaye Tigel, Peretz Zilberberg, and New York Tsukunft office

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title

Scope and Content:

The United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution, also known as the Katsetler Farband, was a non-political Jewish membership organization for Holocaust survivors in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Associated with the labor movement, it offered financial assistance for settling in the Americas, legal and medical aid, educational, cultural and social programs. It also provided aid to refugees in DP camps, and help with emigration. Established in the late 1940s, the United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution became involved in international negotiations for restitution (Wiedergutmachung) from the German government, and became a clearing house for individuals and organizations requesting information and applications for restitution monies. Moses Kligsberg played a central role in the organization, probably as Executive Secretary. Other leadership over the years included Moyshe Greenbaum; Arthur Nunberg; A. Brover; J. Celemenski.

Of particular interest are the more than 80 membership questionnaires (deklaratsyes), which catalog where people and their families came from and where they spent the war years (concentration camps, labor camps, in partisan organizations, etc). Also important is a folder of correspondence from the Axis Victims League (of which United Jewish Survivors of Nazi Persecution was a member) that includes copies of letters from the United States Department of State and the Ambassador of France, as well as a draft (in German) of a proposal sent by the Axis Victims League to the Berlin Magistrate asking him to introduce a General Claims Law.

There are over 50 letters from individuals requesting information about restitution, and about 50 additional letters on topics such as financial aid, events, and membership. The circulars and announcements of events give a sense of the role of the organization in the social lives of new-comers to the United States. Organizational correspondence includes: Jewish Labor Committee, Canadian Jewish Congress, United Service for New Americans, New York Association for New Americans. Also noteworthy are the several drafts of the organizational by-laws.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The collection contains several photographs, negatives and some prints. The images depicts among others, Moses Kligsberg's wife, Mala, and their daughter Guta, and other residents of the Warsaw Ghetto; some of Moses Kligsberg's principal collaborators from YIVO, including Vladka Meed, Joseph (Yosl) Mlotek, Emanuel Patt, and others. The series also holds photos from various trips, Moses Kligsberg undertook, many of these images are unidentified.

The prints and negatives correspond to the photographs, they usually depict unidentified landscapes.

The series is in Yiddish, English. Some documents also in French andRussian.

1.2 linear feet,

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by name of the author.

Scope and Content:

Essays, articles and manuscripts by scholars, historians and individuals. Although there are several published works, the majority are unpublished manuscripts. Major themes represented in scholarly articles include: Jewish social research, sociological and psychological studies; youth movements, labor movements, Yidishkeyt, Yiddish literature and linguistics, Eastern European Jews during World War II.

The collection includes about 20 personal manuscripts by individuals. About half of these are memoirs submitted to YIVO by Holocaust survivors or immigrants to the United States, perhaps as part of YIVO's various autobiography contests or other oral history projects. Among these are: Abraham Biales, Eliah Ain, Benjamin Frenkel, Benjamin Rabinowitz, Elimelekh Rak, Esther Schechter, Rosa Shenfeld, Ephroim Stein, B. Ephraim Sweet.

There also seems to have been a project that involved interviewing refugees in DP camps about their wartime experiences, and the collection contains about 10 manuscripts sent from DP camps in Italy and Germany. These include: Jacob Leib, Meyer Eichbrener, Itskhak Eichenholza, Sara Jacubowska, Hania Mekler, Majer Mermelstein, Paul Landau, Itskhak Mundsztuk, A.K. Raoul, Benjamin Weissman (Feltz), Zov Verba.

Among the anonymous manuscripts is an untitled novel of over 200 pages. There are a number of anonymous manuscripts about young Bundists and their activities.

Box

Folder

Title

Date

51

1045

Abbott, Lloyd and Hadda, Janet: "Project Proposal: An Explicit Description of the Contextualization of Codes in our Neighborhood"

Bornstein, Yudl. Remarks at the book party for the release of "Groysn yidishn verterbukh" [Great Yiddish Dictionary].

undated

With remarks by Yudl Bornstein about new YIVO building. Typed, 3 pp.

51

1052

Bertelsen, Aage. October '43

1954, 1963

Translated from Danish by Milly Lindholm and Willy Agtby. The folder also contains photocopies of texts about Jews escaping Denmark during Nazi invasion and selected chapters of Rescue in Denmark (1963) by Harold Flender

Included are letter and autobiographical manuscript for YIVO contest, 15 pp.

52

1095

Stankiewicz, Edward. "Max Weinreich: History of the Yiddish Language - A Contribution to Linguistics"

1973

Paper given at YIVO Annual Banquet. Typed, 28 pp.; one page of introductory remarks in Yiddish is also included

52

1096

Stankiewicz, Edward. "Dr. Max Weinreich's History of the Yiddish Language - A Contribution to Linguistics"

1974

Condensed version, 7 pp. In pamphlet published by YIVO. Also included is Noble, Shlomo. "A Morphology of Ashkenazic Culture," condensed version , 4 pp. Pamphlet contains Yiddish and English versions of both papers

52

1097

Stein, Ephroym (Frank). Autobiography

1952

Memoir, 29 pp., letter and three poems

52

1098

Sukhanina, A. Untitled manuscripts

1953-1954

Text about about Naum Kausan, Jewish Russian patriot killed by Bolsheviks Also included are correspondence and photograph. In Russian. 18 pp., 11 pp., 7 pp.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The character of this series is rather mixed. It contains interviews, some recordings seem to be part of oral history projects. One of the recordings could be a lecture Chana Mlotek gave on Michl Gordon. However, there is only little data available to better assess the background and conditions under which the recordings were created.

The music part of the collection includes some examples of possibly religious chants in Hebrew, couple of Yiddish folk songs, and also Christmas carols. Three sound reels with unidentified classical music that sound like chamber music.

The speed of recording also differs from recording to recording and where possible is is noted in the brackets.